Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Dollar Tree Trash Pile, 1801 Norman Drive, Valdosta, GA 2022-07-31

Bobby McKenzie reported yesterday, “Well again without wanting to and without trying…I found yet another mother load…”

This one is behind the Target, 1801 Norman Driver, Valdosta, GA 31601.

Trash, drain, Hightower and Sugar Creeks

It drains into Hightower Creek, then Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River.

Sure, the WaterGoat near the bottom of Sugar Creek, will probably catch this trash when it gets that far. We thank Valdosta again for buying that WaterGoat, and we look forward to Valdosta’s plan for cleaning it out.

And we are still looking for Valdosta to come up with a plan for education and enforcement of its quite good trash ordinances to get parking lot owners to keep trash from getting off their property and to put out trash cans and keep them emptied, as their own 2010 Stormwater Master Plan said they should do “immediately” twelve years ago.

Sure, people shouldn’t litter. But the fast food outlets sell this single-use packaging, and the parking lot owners let it get into the creeks despite the city ordinances. They should bear responsibility.

The City of Valdosta doesn’t expect volunteers to clean up sewage spills, even though city employees do not produce most of that sewage. Why should volunteers be expected to clean up Valdosta’s ongoing trash spills? Continue reading →

Valdosta homemade trash trap, detention pond, One Mile Branch, Ashley Street 2022-07-29

Update 2022-09-06: Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta 2022-10-21.

Update 2022-08-01: Plus a response from the Valdosta Stormwater Manager.

Twelve years late is better than never.

Bobby McKenzie reported Friday:

Movie, Detention Pond, One Mile Branch, Sugar Creek

This is a complete shocker! One step closer Continue reading →

Madison Health lifts Withlacoochee River Health Advisory 2022-07-29

Update 2022-08-05: Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04.

Madison Health has lifted its Health Advisory for the Withlacoochee River, after two days of good results.

Crossed in the email: that came in while I was finishing Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28.

Advisory Lifted, Underlying Data 2022-07-29

The FDOH data is not yet in floridadep.gov/dear/watershed-monitoring-section/content/suwannee-river-basin-sampling-locations, but Lisa B. Hayes of Madison Health emailed them to us, and here they are in the WWALS composite spreadsheet, along with the Valdosta and WWALS results for Wednesday and Thursday. Continue reading →

Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28

Update 2022-08-05: Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04.

Update 2022-07-29: Madison Health lifts Withlacoochee River Health Advisory 2022-07-29.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Little Rivers this weekend, according to the most recent water quality test results we have.

No significant rain has fallen in the past two days, and none is predicted for the weekend. And no significant new sewage spills have been reported, so chances are good for all weekend.

Madison Health has ~~not yet~~ lifted its Withlacoochee River Health Alert, because they want successive good results. But we call them according to the most recent data we have.

And happy chainsawing and picking up trash tomorrow on the Withlacoochee River next to Valdosta.

Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-07-28

Valdosta’s results upstream were OK for Wednesday a week ago, Friday, Monday, and this Wednesday, but they were various colors of bad downstream for those same days. Thanks to Scott Fowler of Valdosta Utilities for getting those results updated on Valdosta’s website today. Continue reading →

Valdosta Sewage Spill, Sheri Run, Springhill Drive 2022-07-25

Update 2022-08-12: Another Sheri Run sewage spill, 2022-08-03.

Update 2022-07-29: Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28.

Valdosta had an 840-gallon sewage spill Monday, July 25, 2022. It probably did not affect the Withlacoochee River, but nearby residents may be concerned.

Detail and area maps

It was about 400 feet upstream on Sheri Run from the Baytree Road spill of July 9th. Continue reading →

Madison Health Alert, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-25

Yesterday evening at 7:12 PM we got a Health Alert for the Withlacoochee River from Madison Health. I informed them Friday evening of the WWALS test results for Thursday showing bad water quality at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps.

Chart, Alert, Swim Guide

No new sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida, although you can see an old one peeking in from the left on the chart: High Springs 500-gallon sewage spill, mostly cleaned up 2022-07-07. Meanwhile, there was heavy rain Sunday on both sides of Brooks County, Georgia: 2.19″ on the west at Dixie, and 1.57″ on the east on the Withlacoochee River at US 84. So it’s likely there was heavy rain across Brooks County, which quite likely washed more cattle manure into Okapilco Creek and then into the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

Pictures: Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Spring Withlacoochee River 2015-10-24

A fine day, balmy, breezy, sunny, with springs and rapids and fine company, from Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Spring on the Withlacoochee River, in the October WWALS Outing, October 24, 2015.

Onwards from Hardee Spring 30.5444069, -83.2500076

This is part of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, and you can join the committee!

Below are some pictures. Click on any small picture to see a larger version. Pictured: many shoals and rapids.

Pinetta Gage steps and old-style measure 30.5957374, -83.2598038

The Pinetta gage (pictured) read 6.4 feet. Any lower and more dragging boats would have been necessary. Lots of cypress, oaks, pines, and other native species.

Not pictured: a large turtle, numerous birds (heron, ibis, hawk, buzzard, others), and fish (mullet, bass). No gators. Very few invasive species, except the notorious Japanese climbing fern.

Watch the WWALS Outings for more outings and events!
https://wwals.net/outings/

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James radio 2022-07-19

Songwriters, don’t forget to send in your song to the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by tomorrow, July 20, 2022! Really final deadline this time.

Movie: Intro: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about that and many other topics on his radio show this morning.

Here’s a Continue reading →

Chainsaw Cleanup Returns, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, 2022-07-30

A few people with chainsaws will saw off some deadfalls, while other people pull the pieces aside and clean up the trash caught in the deadfalls.

This outing will depend much on the water level. Right now the Withlacoochee River is too high to reach the lower deadfalls, and in two weeks it could be very low again, so watch the facebook event or the meetup.

Last tree section drops, 13:15:39, 30.8447282, -83.3476157 2022-06-25

Remember, you do not have to use a chainsaw to come on this outing. We need people moving limbs and picking up trash. Continue reading →

WaterGoat cleanout 2022-07-12

As a temporary stopgap, volunteer Russell Allen McBride continues to clean out the WaterGoat trash boom on Sugar Creek, to keep more trash from getting down into the nearby Withlacoochee River.

WaterGoat and trash

Thanks to Assistant City Manager Richard Hardy for agreeing last Thursday to organize a meeting this coming week to discuss a more permanent cleanout solution, as well as locations for more WaterGoats, and upstream trash solutions. Continue reading →